Tuesday, August 11, 2009

LADOT to Motorists - "Prepare to Accelerate!"

The City of LA, in its infinite wisdom, has again used “But it’s State Law!” as an excuse for employing the popularity contest disguised as science approach to the establishment of speed limits on local streets.

On Thursday, August 13, at 10 am, the City of LA’s Transportation Committee will be considering LADOT submitted proposals to increase the speed limits on 16 of LA’s streets.

The debate over State Law, speed traps, the 85% rule used to establish speed limits, the need for speed zone certification in order to utilize radar/laser for speed limit enforcement has taken place locally, in Sacramento and there’s no reason to rehash that discussion here.

What’s most important is to simply ask the LADOT why the rush to clear the 16 proposals so quickly and so quietly?

1) Assemblyman Paul Krekorian is hosting a “Safe Streets Workshop” on Saturday, August 22, in an effort to update residents on AB 766, the Safe Streets Bill, which addresses the local community’s desire to have control over the establishment of speed limits in their community.

Why not wait until after the workshop? Why the rush?

2) LA’s neighborhood councils and the Department of Transportation have been hard at work, developing an MOU between the NC and the DOT. The NC MOU Negotiating Team and the NC Transpo Reps meet this Saturday, August 15, in an effort to establish a working relationship that includes parameters for notification.

Why not wait until the after the MOU is signed? Why the rush?

3) The speed limit revisions are for streets that have had expired certification for as much as 2 years. Of the 6500 miles of streets in LA, only about 700 street sections are speed zone certified. The current system is so ineffective that it begs for an enlightened restructuring. The current process relies on strategies that are 6 decades obsolete.

Why not wait until LA has a better process? Why the rush?

At the end of the day, the current process for increasing the speed limits on the streets of LA is an exercise in bureaucratic rubber-stamping.

The LADOT keeps a watchful eye on approximately 700 speed zone certificates, with approximately 100 of them expiring each year. As the certs expire, they ask the LAPD if they’d like the radar/laser authority in order to enforce the speed limits on those streets. The LAPD says “Sure!”

The LADOT then asks the Council Office if they’d like the LAPD to enforce the speed limits on the respective streets with expired speed zone certs. The Council Office says “Sure!”

The LADOT then asks the Transportation Commission to agendize the proposed speed limit increases and they typically turn up on the consent agenda, meaning that unless the public shows up and bangs the drum, the Transportation Commission will say “Sure!”

The LADOT will then take the full complement of DOT Brass, supported by engineers and handlers, to the City Council’s Transportation Committee where the DOT will explain “The motorists have voted with their gas pedals!” The speed limit proposals will get a cursory review and the Transportation Committee will say “Sure!”

Meanwhile, residents wake up to find that their streets are now “freeway alternatives” and that the speed limits have been revised in order to reflect the speed of the speeders. The public will discover that all of this took place with no public participation. The public will say “Wilco Tango Foxtrot!”